The History of St. Andrew's

The first St. Andrew's Church:

In
1821, the government granted an acre of land situated on the corner of Church
Street and Hotel Street (now Victoria Ave.) to the representatives of the
Church of Scotland, then in the village of Belleville.

The first church was erected in 1831, a frame building painted white.
The parent Church of Scotland probably assisted in the cost of construction.
The church was large enough to seat about 300. The seats for some years
consisted of planks on blocks of wood. It was lighted with tallow candles
until 1858, when gas was secured by the congregation laying a main from
the corner of John and Hotel Streets to the church, as the gas company refused
to do it. The snuffing of the candles was the duty of one gentleman who
used to divide the honour with the minister. The collection was taken up
with ladles.

Three poplar trees were planted in front of the church in 1850. These
trees survived in spite of the efforts of one gentleman to break them down
because he objected to all forms of church embellishment. No sound but the
human voice was heard in St. Andrew's until 1865 when a small harmonium
was placed in the church, and the Saturday night before it was first used.
The minister received several threatening letters announcing the dreadful
things that would happen if that "Kist of Whistles" was allowed
to desecrate the Lord's house. The harmonium was used by the organist who
dared not play a prelude to the hymns, and a voluntary would have emptied
the church.

A year following the building of the church, a petition was sent from
the congregation to the Presbytery of Edinburgh and in response, Reverend
James Ketchan was sent as minister to St. Andrew's who was the first stated
minister. He remained until 1844, then returned to Scotland. From 1844 to
1850, St. Andrew's was without a minister. During this time, parishioners
of St. Andrew's worshipped in St. Thomas Anglican Church.

In November 1850, the Reverend William McEwen was inducted as minister.
He resigned in 1853. Reverend A. Walker was inducted May 10, 1854 and remained
until 1868 when he returned to Scotland. In 1869, the Reverend J. C. Smith
took charge of the parish and during his tenure, the congregation prospered
greatly.

At the annual meeting of the congregation on January 4, 1871, the following
resolution was passed: That steps be taken to build a brick church with
stone foundation and basement storey large enough to seat on the ground
floor 500 persons, the cost of said building not to exceed $9,000.00. Application
was made to the Government through the Attorney-General for renewal of the
patent on which the church stands.

On April 24, 1871, a congregational meeting voted to allow the building
committee to expend more than $9,000.00 if necessary and on January 4, 1872
the annual meeting of the congregation was held for the first time in the
new church with Mr. Rutherford as chairman.

The Second St. Andrew's Church:

The second St. Andrew's Church was built in 1871, replacing the frame church.
The second church was an attractive brick edifice with stone basement. It
had pews providing sittings for 446 persons. Many memorial stained glass
windows were installed and finally all of the windows were stained glass.
This church had the only chimes in Belleville, a fine organ, and was lighted
by gas. It was destroyed by fire on Sunday morning September 9, 1894.

Two ministers served in this church: the Reverend J.C. Smith, who was
minister in the first church, remained until the early part of 1873, when
he resigned and went to Hamilton. A call was extended to Reverend M. W.
McLean of Port Hope. He accepted and was inducted on November 12, 1873.
Mr. McLean remained as minister of this second church until it burned and
then he continued as minister of the third church, St. Andrew's current
building.

In 1875, the union of various branches of the Presbyterians in Canada
took place and the Presbyterian Church in Canada had one of the largest
memberships of the Protestant churches. An annual report for 1880 showed
the number of families in St. Andrew's as 136; number of communicants as
190; number of scholars on the Sunday School rolls was 180; and average
attendance each week was 150.

The Women's Fellowship and Missionary Society (W. F. M. S.) was formed
on November 10, 1885. They met monthly and reported a membership of 31 by
1889. The 1890 annual report indicated the W. F. M. S. had 31 members and
total funds raised as $100.00.

In 1890, the Sunday School report shows the following: "One of the
most notable features and one we regret to mention is the manner in which
lessons are prepared at home. Here at least we should endeavour to improve
during the coming year. Instruction received at Sunday School, even though
ably imparted, can never take the place nor be retained in the memory like
lessons learned at home. This is especially true of Bible Verses and Catechism
questions." By 1893s annual report, the Sunday School had 19 teachers,
with an average attendance of 140 children each Sunday.

Sunday morning, September 9, 1894, a fire alarm was given at 5 o'clock
in the morning saying simply that St. Andrew's Church was on fire. In a
few short hours, the church was just a mass of smouldering ruins. One of
Belleville's most handsome churches was nothing but bare walls and charred
timbers. The church, at this time, was free of debt, well furnished, and
had a flourishing congregation. Because of the lack of instant communications
such as we have today, many members of the congregation showed up for the
regular service that morning, only to find their church in ruins.

The Third St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church:

On
the afternoon of the day the second church was destroyed by fire, a meeting
including Reverend McLean and church officials was convened. Offers of temporary
accommodation were made by the Reverend Canon Burke of St. Thomas, Reverend
Robert Wallace of Bridge Street Methodist, Mr. Power of the Opera House
and Robert Bogle of the Business College. Mr. Bogle's offer was accepted
and the congregation moved to its temporary home in the Business College
.

The building committee for the third church building consisted of the
Trustees and Thomas Stewart and J. L. Biggar representing the congregation.
The active trustees were John Bell, Q.C., James Brown, D. M. Waters, Judge
Lazier, Robert Elliott, D. R. Leavena, and R. E. Lazier. Various architects’
submitted plans and the committee selected as architects Darling, Sproat,
and Pearson. Plans and specifications having been completed, tenders were
called.

Numerous tenders were submitted. The contract for the building was let
to Thomas Hanley for $23,000.00. The Globe Furniture Company received the
contract for the pews for $1,466.00. The contract for the pulpit was let
to Thomas Hanley for $480.00, the heating to William McGie for $650.00,
the organ to Warren Co. for $2,275.00. The total cost for the building and
furnishings was $34,000.00. J. L. Biggar installed a memorial window for
$125.00 and the communion table at a cost of $125.00.

The third St. Andrew's Church was dedicated on November 17th, 1895.

The annual congregational meeting held February 3rd, 1904 brought the
announcement of the resignation of Reverend M. W. McLean after 30 years
as pastor of St. Andrew's. Regret was expressed at his resignation as he
had served the congregation faithfully for so long a period of time. At
this meeting it was suggested that the Board of Managers be reduced in number
as many did not attend the meetings. Also, it was moved by Dr. Farley, seconded
by W. J. Campbell the president, secretary, and treasurer that the Ladies
Aid Society be members of the Board of Managers because of all the money
they had collected for the church over the years. This motion did not carry.

After Reverend McLean left, various ministers filled in as asked until
September 13, 19 04 when the Reverend R. S. Laidlaw was inducted. He served
as minister until 1909 when he left to accept a post in Brandon, Manitoba.
St. Andrew's then inducted the Reverend A. S. Kerr, M.A., who came to the
church from Scarborough .

In 1925, after much controversy, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian
Church in Canada voted the whole church into union with the United Church.
However, each congregation was allowed to vote out of the union if they
wanted to. St. Andrew's voted against entering the union, while the nearby
John St. Presbyterian voted to join the United Church.

This caused considerable disruption as many left St. Andrew's to join
the United Churchy and several left John Street Presbyterian to come to
St. Andrew's. Reverend Kerr entered the United Church and left St. Andrew's.

A call was extended to Reverend R. G. Stewart of Neepawa, Manitoba. He
was inducted on August 27th, 1925 and remained for three years. During his
tenure, there was a large increase in membership and considerable growth
in Sunday School attendance.

Reverend J. A. Seymour, M.A., S.T.D. was inducted as Minister of St. Andrew's
on March 13, 1929. Dr. Seymour is described as being an excellent administrator
and organizer. Under his guidance, several alterations took place to the
church building. A new heating system providing heat for the entire building
was added; Sunday School assembly hall, class rooms, and choir room, ladies'
parlour, kindergarten room, kitchen and toilets were added to a remodelled
basement. A new lighting system was installed and repairs were made to the
outside of the building.

Unfortunately, Reverend Dr. Seymour was struck and killed by a street
car in Toronto on February 14th, 1934. He had been attending a committee
meeting in Toronto. Dr. Seymour was an able preacher, outstanding scholar
and loved by the people of St. Andrew's. On Sunday morning, February 11,
1934, Dr. Seymour preached a sermon from the text, "How shall we sing
the Lord's song in a strange land?". This sermon related to many people
passing through difficult times because of the Great Depression and they
were inspired and comforted by the oratory.

The Reverend William James Walker, B.A., B. D. was inducted into the pastorate
of St. Andrews on June 29, 1934, a post he served until June 16th, 1942.
Some events of importance during the tenure of Reverend Walker included
the destruction by fire of John Street United Church and the use of St.
Andrew's by that congregation until it disbanded and former Presbyterians
returned to St. Andrew's from John Street United. Also, the symbolic burning
of the mortgage was held in 1939. The mortgage had covered part of the costs
of the remodelling and alterations to the church.

The Reverend J. G. Hornsby was inducted on November 26, 1942 and he continued
in the post until the latter part of 1954. The membership at the end of
1954 was 770. Reverend Hornsby was Minister for the last three years of
World War Two and the war dead were memorialized. The names of St. Andrew's
congregation who died in the Second World War were Haddow F. Baird, Charles
Cunningham, Donald B. Douglas, George Graham, Edward Gailey, Charles T.
Kidd, John Parsons and Stanley Seymour .

From early 1955 until 1963, Reverend R. D. MacLean served as Minister
of St. Andrew's Church. During this period, the Sunday School accommodations
were moved to the second floor of the church with auditorium and classrooms.
Today, Sunday School is held in this area.

In 1963, the Reverend A. L. Sutherland accepted a call and was inducted
in March, 1963. He remained in St. Andrew's pulpit until 1980. The vestry
was refurnished as an office for Mr. Sutherland and a church office was
equipped for the secretary. The office for the secretary was enlarged in
1967. In 1968 a new organ was installed in the Church by Casavant Freres.
This organ is still the one used today. During this Ministry, the regular
Sunday evening service was discontinued. Reverend Sutherland served until
1980.

A new Minister was not inducted until 1982, when the Reverend Malcolm
Muth was selected. He served 10 years until 1992. Once again, two years
passed before the Reverend Craig Cribar was inducted in 1994 and he remained
until 2001. During this period, attendance at all of the established churches
was dropping as new lifestyles began to take over. Older members of the
congregation were passing away and their families were either moving to
other communities or simply deciding not to attend church any more. People
felt disconnected from the older established churches who were doing nothing
to adapt to modern life and the numbers of church members declined. A drive
around communities all across Canada in the late 20th century showed how
out of touch the church was becoming, as there were many churches abandoned
and closed. St. Andrew's was seriously in danger of becoming one of these
churches.

Today:

After
Reverend Cribar left, the selection committee at St. Andrew's decided to
select someone to bring new life into St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church.
Thus they selected Anne-Marie Jones, a Quinte area native and a recent graduate
of Knox College in Toronto . The congregation voted overwhelmingly in favour
of the committee's choice and Reverend Anne-Marie Jones was inducted as
Minister of St. Andrew's in October, 2002. She made history immediately
by becoming St. Andrew's first woman Minister and with her father, the Reverend
Bob Jones of St. Andrew's Church in Picton, became the first daughter and
father Ministers in the Presbyterian Church in Canada.

Rev. Anne-Marie left St. Andrew's Belleville at the end of 2014 to fulfill God's calling in Meaford, Ontario.

The Presbytery of Kingston assigned Pastor Job Van Hartingsveldt to be St. Andrew's interim moderator on September 1, 2014.
Since then he has also been filling the role of interim minister and travels from Kingston every Sunday for worship
service and Wednesday mornings he is in the office.